Des anges et des insectes

A U.S.-British co-production for PBS, from A.S. Byatt's story "Morpho Eugenia" (a better title!), this head-scratcher of a human drama involves a Victorian England bug-specialist who comes to stay with a wealthy family and falls in love with his benefactor's lovely but unstable daughter. A carefully plotted picture, which might mean slow or sluggish--yet the film is never boring. Moments of eccentricity, romance and surrealism are blended together with skill, and the actresses in particular (Kristen Scott Thomas and the wonderfully brave Patsy Kensit) are first-rate. It's a difficult film, but one worth staying with. **1/2 from ****

A fascinating and psychologically suffocating film based on a novella by A.S. Byatt. A doomed love affair and some serious family dysfunction provide the content for the story, and director Philip Haas ratchets up the sense of something rotting at the film's center to a high degree. Though all of the acting is fine, what I remember most about this film are the costumes, all designed to evoke insect imagery. The film deservedly won an Academy Award nomination for its costume design, and should have won, but the Academy decided to recognize "The English Patient's" assortment of Banana Republic outfits instead. Grade: B+

Kristin Scott Thomas gives an Oscar worthy performance full of nuances and subtleness in tune with a by gone Victorian era when nothing is outrightly spoken but always hinted at so unlike our lurid confessional age. Thomas can infuse a scene with a multiplicity of meaning through a movement of the wrist or a tilt of a head and trounces Emma Thompson's lauded performance of British reserve in "Remains of the Day". To appreciate this film you need an artist eye, others who dislike it would be better off getting whacked with a sledgehammer.

Glossy costume drama that is inert for two thirds of the movie. A lot of this has to do with Mark Rylance speaking so softly and hesitantly that one wants to tell him to get on with it. But the main problem is that Patsy Kensit is way over her head with this one. The only time I thought she was really acting was when she panicked when she was getting covered with moths (and methinks that she was really panicking). Also, Kristin Scott Thomas' Matty, instead of coming across as a champion of liberated women everywhere was merely reduced to a know-it-all that I tired of pretty quickly. The film's only saving grace was the references to insects, which was rather interesting. Other than that, a rather boring historical picture with some shocking subject matter to make it relevant.

This movie presents a brilliant stage worthy level of acting to the screen. I was stunned by the quality and subtlety of the performances especially the lead and Kristin Thomas. The story is almost painfully slow but that helps create a mood and sexual tension that works perfectly. I was literally on the edge of my seat both with the drama of the characters and just wanting to be closer to their nuanced performances. Jeremy Kemp as the elder Lord of the manor Sir Harald Alabaster displays aristocratic intelligence rarely found in films. The dinner table discussions of the emergence of the radical new approaches to evolution and culture surrounding Darwin's revelations are compelling. Also the role of Edgar, representing the boorish son who clings to the old ways of class hierarchy is finely wrought. Highly recommended. A thoughtful film.